Why are so many guitarists afraid of innovation?

[[Nathan]]

Didn’t watch the video but how many things are being sold to us under the guise of innovation.

I’d heard about evertunes for years before I even considered one. I kept having conversations with studio people and guitarists who kept saying it would be a perfect fit for me. Eventually I tried one and immediately bought a second. I feel like if the stuff really is innovative it’ll kind of have this lifecycle where the word spreads over time after it’s been tested over and over. If new things are bought and don’t really bring much to the table it just doesn’t get reccomended to the next person.

Plenty of people just ignore all the sales promises, play their current rig and are happy. It generally takes something to really get traction before turning the masses heads

 

[Orvillain]

Didn’t watch the video but how many things are being sold to us under the guise of innovation.

I’d heard about evertunes for years before I even considered one. I kept having conversations with studio people and guitarists who kept saying it would be a perfect fit for me. Eventually I tried one and immediately bought a second. I feel like if the stuff really is innovative it’ll kind of have this lifecycle where the word spreads over time after it’s been tested over and over. If new things are bought and don’t really bring much to the table it just doesn’t get reccomended to the next person.

Plenty of people just ignore all the sales promises, play their current rig and are happy. It generally takes something to really get traction before turning the masses heads

I didn't really get on with Evertune in the end. Pain in the ass to mess around with alternate tunings, and I think the overall sound of it might be a bit bright and pingy, versus my TOM bridge on my LP for instance.

I'd try one again I think, but not one of those LTD guitars.

 

[PLX]

Didn’t watch the video but how many things are being sold to us under the guise of innovation.

I’d heard about evertunes for years before I even considered one. I kept having conversations with studio people and guitarists who kept saying it would be a perfect fit for me. Eventually I tried one and immediately bought a second. I feel like if the stuff really is innovative it’ll kind of have this lifecycle where the word spreads over time after it’s been tested over and over. If new things are bought and don’t really bring much to the table it just doesn’t get reccomended to the next person.

Plenty of people just ignore all the sales promises, play their current rig and are happy. It generally takes something to really get traction before turning the masses heads

You're making a whole lot of sense.

 

[likitlikeyoulikeit]

Les Paul wasn't ascared!!!

 

[[Nathan]]

I didn't really get on with Evertune in the end. Pain in the ass to mess around with alternate tunings, and I think the overall sound of it might be a bit bright and pingy, versus my TOM bridge on my LP for instance.

I'd try one again I think, but not one of those LTD guitars.

The fact that they hold perfect tuning for basically weeks/months outweighs any 2% tone shift (if it even exists). I’ve got a solar and a balaguer, haven’t tried the ltds with ET

I play a Les Paul custom among other guitars, they don’t hold a candle to the tuning stability of an Evertune. But yeah changing tuning other than a half step up or down or just overriding the low string out of zone2 taking it from a drop tuning to standard tuning is kind of out of the question unless you restring. The counterpoint to that I guess is I never really setup a normal guitar and then regularly change the tuning like that anyway, it’s pretty similar when all is said and done

 

[Byrdman]

Many guitarists are always looking for the next greatest thing that will help them get better faster, I'm guilty too, but for the 90% out there, more time spent practicing would probably solve 99% of the gear problems IMO.

 

[dronerstone]

Hmm. Didn't watch, but on one hand it's funny we buy seriously innovative modeling devices that mimic the sounds of a palette of 60 year old amp/pedal circuits.

On the other hand, certain "innovations" are born from people overthinking stuff with hilarious tunnel vision ideas.

I dunno what to do. Maybe think less, play more, and look up new stuff, then decide if it's cool or not?

 

[dronerstone]

Many guitarists are always looking for the next greatest thing that will help them get better faster, I'm guilty too, but for the 90% out there, more time spent practicing would probably solve 99% of the gear problems IMO.

What is this "better" you're talking about?

Moar is betterer!

 

[Orvillain]

The fact that they hold perfect tuning for basically weeks/months outweighs any 2% tone shift (if it even exists). I’ve got a solar and a balaguer, haven’t tried the ltds with ET

I play a Les Paul custom among other guitars, they don’t hold a candle to the tuning stability of an Evertune. But yeah changing tuning other than a half step up or down or just overriding the low string out of zone2 taking it from a drop tuning to standard tuning is kind of out of the question unless you restring. The counterpoint to that I guess is I never really setup a normal guitar and then regularly change the tuning like that anyway, it’s pretty similar when all is said and done

I jump between drop-B and drop-C quite a lot. I manage to get away with it without having to tweak intonation and action. I guess for me, the tuning instability, the slight bwwwwaaaaannggggg of pitchiness you get when you really twat the strings... it is all part of the experience for me.

 

[FuzzyAce]

more time spent practicing would probably solve 99% of the gear problems IMO.

That's it right there. And that's also a reason why some are happy with just an acoustic, or a tele and a tweed deluxe. It's about making music. Some songs/music needs the bare bones, others may require 5 simultaneous effects and switchable patches, so it's all good. But just because someone doesn't embrace modeling technology or some other innovation, that doesn't necessarily make them afraid of tech.

 

[EOengineer]

If you think guitarists are technology averse, mention electronic drums to your drummer and count how many minutes until their eyes stop rolling.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I think guitarists are largely interested in new things but are also relentlessly marketed with absolute rubbish. As you get older you start to be a bit more suspicious of what’s being marketed to you, and you also realise the beauty in keeping things simple.

I’m probably missing the point of the video as I didn’t watch it, or care really. Guitarists love gadgets and tech as far as I can tell.

 

[laxu]

I’m probably missing the point of the video as I didn’t watch it, or care really. Guitarists love gadgets and tech as far as I can tell.

Guitarists are also a bunch of luddites at the same time.

For example almost nobody makes amps with EQs more complex than a passive 3-band these days.

Then look at an average bass amp and you have at least parametric mids in there, or maybe separate low/high mids. Lots more solid-state amps too.

This seems to be entirely due to these sort of features appearing in not-so-good 1980s/1990s designs, and not being used by any famous guitarists.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Guitarists are also a bunch of luddites at the same time.

For example almost nobody makes amps with EQs more complex than a passive 3-band these days.

Then look at an average bass amp and you have at least parametric mids in there, or maybe separate low/high mids. Lots more solid-state amps too.

This seems to be entirely due to these sort of features appearing in not-so-good 1980s/1990s designs, and not being used by any famous guitarists.

Is a car with more steering wheels or pedals any better?

I think a lot of those sort of ideas have been tested and largely don’t improve anything (at least enough) to gain prominence. Beyond bass/middle/treble, there’s depth, presence, switchable tone stack buttons, switches that move the positions of any of the said controls, mid scoops, NFB, graphic EQ’s and FX loops. VHT Pitbull’s have the option of a graphic eq and most people don’t think it’s necessary (or very important). I almost never feel the need to add an EQ to the loop of any amp, I’d rather those decisions were handled in the circuit design than giving the user lots of loose ends.

 

[metropolis_4]

If you think guitarists are technology averse, mention electronic drums to your drummer and count how many minutes until their eyes stop rolling.

That has nothing to do with being averse to technology, it’s because that technology is terrible. Electric drums all suck

It’s like telling your guitar player to play the guitar parts on a Casio keyboard

 

[joezlo]

Because one person's definition of innovation is another person's definition of stupidity.

Just ask John Cage, Stravinsky, Bach, Mozart, etc.

It takes a who cares mentality or a plethora of courage.

I try not to knock anyone who goes after their own thing.

 

[dronerstone]

the slight bwwwwaaaaannggggg of pitchiness you get when you really twat the strings... it is all part of the experience for me.

This!

Also, all my LP style 3/3 tuner guitars have issues with the stability of the 3rd string, no matter if kept in E Standard or C Standard.

I just ordered a bunch of 12/54 with wound 3rd, let's see how they turn out after all.

 

[dk_ace]

Like nearly everyone else here, I didn’t and probably won’t watch the video, but I’m gonna share my opinion anyway…

Aesthetics. Period. Same reason some people prefer classic cars to modern designs. The modern design is technically superior, but plenty of people still love the classic car more anyway. It’s maybe more pronounced with guitars than cars, but same idea.

Also, some players like to fight their guitar a little or a lot. I’m not really one of them, but some guys like guitar designs that require you to fight them. It has a different feel and vibe and can inspire different approaches and different music.

D

 

[FuzzyAce]

Like nearly everyone else here, I didn’t and probably won’t watch the video, but I’m gonna share my opinion anyway…

Aesthetics. Period. Same reason some people prefer classic cars to modern designs. The modern design is technically superior, but plenty of people still love the classic car more anyway. It’s maybe more pronounced with guitars than cars, but same idea.

Also, some players like to fight their guitar a little or a lot. I’m not really one of them, but some guys like guitar designs that require you to fight them. It has a different feel and vibe and can inspire different approaches and different music.

D

Something better on paper or in theory doesn't always translate to 'better' in practice.

 

[dk_ace]

Something better on paper or in theory doesn't always translate to 'better' in practice.

And even if it is objectively better, some people still might/will prefer the “worse” one.

I think of it this way: if Fender made a legit Strat that looked and sounded completely identical to a vintage strat, but it perfectly stayed in tune with the vibrato, intonated perfectly up and down the neck, was noiseless, allowed incredibly low action with nothing choking out, etc, etc…. Plenty of people would still rather have the vintage unit with its flaws. Some people think those flaws are charming and like the way it plays out for them musically. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, different strokes and all.

Personally, I avoid the slickest guitar designs because I generally don’t like the way they look. That might be shallow, but I can’t change the way I feel about it I just don’t like them. The bigsby on my Gretsch doesn’t perform remotely as well as a fully locking setup, but I’ve yet to see a fully locking trem guitar that I like the vibe of as much as that Gretsch. It has some flaws though, and I only use it for certain things as a result. My PRS kinda sits in the middle and therefore gets most of the work.

D